MoD must end Leuchars uncertainty to allow plans

Sat, 13/10/2012 - 11:17

The ongoing uncertainty surrounding plans to relocate Army personnel to Leuchars must be cleared up as a matter of urgency, so that Fife Council has time to put required services in place, according to local MSP Roderick Campbell.

The local authority has publicly warned that uncertainty surrounding the makeup of forces that will be moved to the former RAF base and the timing of when moves will take place are hindering efforts to plan local services. This uncertainty is making the job of planning and delivering local services significantly harder for Fife Council than it needs to be.

Despite the Tories at Westminster having promised a ‘substantial uplift of the defence footprint in Scotland’, defence jobs in Scotland have fallen by 1,000 in the last year along and current policy remains mired in uncertainty.

Commenting, SNP MSP Roderick Campbell said:

“This timely warning from Fife Council shows the practical problems that the continuing uncertainty at the MoD causes to communities around military bases and the local authorities that have to prepare for the arrival of new troops.

“The local authority needs sufficient time to plan and implement adequate services for soldiers moving to the base, but they are currently not getting the clarity they need from the Ministry of Defence.

“If the MoD will not make clear exactly what their plans are now, then the least that we deserve is a definitive statement of when these final decisions will be made.

“It is unreasonable to prolong the uncertainty that is taking place indefinitely and not for the first time it seems the MoD is failing to take into account the needs of Scotland.”